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Baby Elephant Drowning In Mud Finally Rescued After Hours Of Struggling

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On Tuesday, August 8, visitors at theTsavo East National Parkin Kenya saw something moving in a thick pool of mud.

Source: David Sheldrick Wildlife Trust

As they got closer, they noticed a tiny trunk which they quickly realized belong to a tiny elephant struggling to stay alive.Visitors noticed a herd of elephants nearby that they assumed must have the little animal's family. There were also marks in the mud that looked as though members of the herd had tried to free the baby before, but sadly been unsuccessful. It looked likely that he had been there for up to 12 hours.

Source: David Sheldrick Wildlife Trust

Staff at theTsavo East National Parkknew that they had to act fast to save and reunite the tiny animal with his family.They contacted the David Sheldrick Wildlife Trust who was on hand and ready to spring into action for the challenging rescue mission. They arrived and immediately set to work to free the baby elephant.As they began to move the thick mud from around the animal, they heard a noise coming from the herd nearby. One elephant from the group started to run towards them, clearly indicating that she was the lost baby's mother.

Source: David Sheldrick Wildlife Trust

Amazingly, the team was able to free the animal and save his life. Rob Brandford, director of the David Sheldrick Wildlife Trust in The UK, explained to The Dodo:

This little calf was lucky. [...] Whilst a herd will do all it can to save the calf, if they can’t free the baby, eventually they face the difficult choice of staying and endangering the herd, or leaving the baby behind.

Source: David Sheldrick Wildlife Trust

The scared mother was reunited with her baby and then the pair joined the rest of their herd, happy to be back together. Brandford concludes:

Reuniting a calf with his mother is the ultimate happy ending.

If you would like to support the David Sheldrick Wildlife Trust and help them to carry out their amazing work, you can make a donation by clicking here.

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